- Joined
- Oct 3, 2015
- Messages
- 982
About 3 weeks ago, my Jet 1340 started having start problems, and finally just gave up. The main magnetic start switch went bad, and it fell in about 14 pieces when I took it apart. So I ordered a new switch, figuring i would have it in a few days......wrong! It took 2 weeks to get here. Now installing it.....the enclosure is so tight, I don't think I could have wedged a gnat between all the switches and transformer. Luckily all that was mounted on a sub base that came out with a few nuts.
After grinding down the o.d. of the socket to get in the cramped quarters, I had to loosen all the strain reliefs and get some slack in the wires to get it out of the box. Next I had to find a very skinny screwdriver to un-mount the switch, because the screws are inset of the profile. Once I got the switch installed and the enclosure back on the wall, I thought I was done. When I turned it on, it came up to speed, but it had a terrible hum. I knew what this was from prior experience...the centrifugal switch wasn't opening. Great.....now I have to move the machine away from the wall to get at it. So I get the jack out and lifted enough of the weight off to slide it away from the wall. Once I could get to the motor, I found out that because of the nifty back splash I made, the motor would have to come off to get to the centrifugal switch. There are 4 bolts holding the motor to the mount, and it is evident that these were installed by little asian hands as they were very close quartered. Short sockets and many universal joint drivers got the worst ones off, getting them back on is going to be a different story.
Moving on to the centrifugal switch....it's easy to get to once on the bench. This one had contacts badly burnt. So I head off to my motor guy, only to find out that he is going out of business and only wants to sell remaining inventory. He says" You can get that part online". OK.....so my search started. The first place I checked was Jet Tools. After a confirmation of the right part number, the guys says "We have 25 in stock......but they are on "quality hold", so I can't send you one till we get this issue figured out.....just what you wanted to hear, right?"
Great... just my luck. He was helpful enough that he checked some other websites, and gave me 3 leads, confident they had some older stock. So I used the one that looked the most promising. That was Monday, today I get an e mail that says that the part is back ordered, with no idea when available. So I called the company to get a refund, and find out that I know more about the situation than they do. So I went back to all the other websites that listed them to find out that no one has any in stock. Grizzly motors use the same switch, and they also were out of stock. This must be a common repair part, because I checked several places that handle motor parts and NO ONE had any. One place told me maybe in April.
Desperate people do desperate things. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I decided it was time for surgery. So I surgically removed the contact points, and made some new ones from copper. It works like it should now, but who knows how long they will hold up, maybe long enough that some will come in the country.
After grinding down the o.d. of the socket to get in the cramped quarters, I had to loosen all the strain reliefs and get some slack in the wires to get it out of the box. Next I had to find a very skinny screwdriver to un-mount the switch, because the screws are inset of the profile. Once I got the switch installed and the enclosure back on the wall, I thought I was done. When I turned it on, it came up to speed, but it had a terrible hum. I knew what this was from prior experience...the centrifugal switch wasn't opening. Great.....now I have to move the machine away from the wall to get at it. So I get the jack out and lifted enough of the weight off to slide it away from the wall. Once I could get to the motor, I found out that because of the nifty back splash I made, the motor would have to come off to get to the centrifugal switch. There are 4 bolts holding the motor to the mount, and it is evident that these were installed by little asian hands as they were very close quartered. Short sockets and many universal joint drivers got the worst ones off, getting them back on is going to be a different story.
Moving on to the centrifugal switch....it's easy to get to once on the bench. This one had contacts badly burnt. So I head off to my motor guy, only to find out that he is going out of business and only wants to sell remaining inventory. He says" You can get that part online". OK.....so my search started. The first place I checked was Jet Tools. After a confirmation of the right part number, the guys says "We have 25 in stock......but they are on "quality hold", so I can't send you one till we get this issue figured out.....just what you wanted to hear, right?"
Great... just my luck. He was helpful enough that he checked some other websites, and gave me 3 leads, confident they had some older stock. So I used the one that looked the most promising. That was Monday, today I get an e mail that says that the part is back ordered, with no idea when available. So I called the company to get a refund, and find out that I know more about the situation than they do. So I went back to all the other websites that listed them to find out that no one has any in stock. Grizzly motors use the same switch, and they also were out of stock. This must be a common repair part, because I checked several places that handle motor parts and NO ONE had any. One place told me maybe in April.
Desperate people do desperate things. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I decided it was time for surgery. So I surgically removed the contact points, and made some new ones from copper. It works like it should now, but who knows how long they will hold up, maybe long enough that some will come in the country.
